The Reign Game
by Sixth Limb of Sephiroth
Summary: For Yuffie, it's all about the materia. But as usual, she'll get way in over her head; yet, wouldn't you know, she won't be alone. Nanaki wonders how he got suckered into this mess. "I really wanna shave that guy's hair off... Just a little." -HIATUS-
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:**** The purpose of a disclaimer is obvious enough, right? I don't hold copyright over shit except what I adamantly claim is mine, i.e., OCs and…that's about it. Maybe the plot, the premise. TOTALLY AWESOME.

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_**The Reign Game**_

_**1**_

_The story here is this. I'm Yuffie Kisaragi, ultra famous shinobi and daughter of Lord Godo, master of our great motherland Wutai. We were a mighty force of the mysterious West; we commanded all manner of awesome materia left and right. No one could stop us, no one. That is, until…the Shinra Electric Power Company arrived. They tried to conquer us in the past with their Mako power but we refused. Because we Wutain are just that cool. We wanted no part in being controlled by their awful tyranny. So my dear pops rose up against Shinra and declared war._

_ For a couple years, we dominated with our ninja skills. We were kicking ass and taking names. But who knew that stupid old company would commit such dastardly deeds for victory? Honestly. What did they do? I'll tell you what they did._

_ They made Sephiroth, and SOLDIER. And a lot of ugly things I don't want to talk about here. Although Sephiroth wasn't ugly; he was really kinda hot, but he was still a mean, old man that killed a lot of my people._

_ In short, Wutai's awesome ass got kicked. Bad. We failed in a way we never failed before. We lost the war. And then, oh, then we lost our materia. Our materia! Our land's pride and joy. Materia ranked us up there with Shinra and Corel and everybody. Now, look at what we became. A goofy little nation resort, hanging off the world map by a thread._

_ Back then, I decided. When I grew up, I would march out into the world to reclaim Wutai's former glory and get my revenge on Shinra. I wouldn't just be a master shinobi; I'd be a master materia hunter, too. I would take all the precious materia I could gather, bring them back home, and make us kings again. Then I'd pulverize Shinra into the ground so hard, there'd be nothing left but a nasty stain. Those were my dreams. Glory and revenge. But…_

_ Who knew my dreams would nearly take me to the end of the world? Holy crap, that was a wild ride. I'd get into that story but it's been told so many times, in so many ways, I should be asking everybody else to tell me about it. It was that crazy._

_ But thanks to me and my almighty self, the world is at peace._

_ I am Yuffie Kisaragi, heroine of Gaia. Bow down to me, peons, and give me all your materia.

* * *

_

-

"Yes, I'm at it again. Don't give me that look! Just give me my materia!"

"You're…. fucking kidding me."

"I am quite serious, Mr. Potty Mouth. I might've spent time helping you guys save the world, and yeah, we're all chums to the end, but there's no use denying it. All your materia are belong to me. I want that box!"

"Go away."

"How rude."

Yuffie didn't come to Edge, often, especially since resuming her grand hunt for materia. But when she did, she made it a habit to bug Cloud at the orphanage for her rightful property. As the self-proclaimed guardian of all the materia they'd amassed together on their old journey, he politely refused. Now she was getting progressively more ridiculous and she knew it, too. Eventually, the broody blond would break. Eventually, she'd get her materia back. Eventually, Wutai would be whole again. The world was full of eventuals but they were decisive on Yuffie's part.

Today, the nagging ninja barred the bathroom doorway, sealing Cloud in like a caged cat. Behind her, a line of children formed, some whining, some laughing. Her friend's usually somber eyes were now fully annoyed. It was one thing to block a person's path. It was another thing to intrude on one of man's domains.

"I really need to use the bathroom, Yuffie," he droned unhappily. "I can't get back to work if you're in the way."

"Then tell me where my materia is and I'll be on my way."

"Cloud, just tell her where it is," whined one of the boys in line. "We needa pee, too."

"I thought we agreed it'd be for the team," Cloud mumbled.

Yuffie scratched thoughtfully at her button nose then blinked. "Yeah. It's still mine, though. So I'm taking it."

"Huh."

Suddenly, the blond swung his foot forward. The girl's foot flew out of the wedge she made in the doorjamb's corner, and with the shove of a hand, she slipped. The bathroom door closed squarely on her incoming face where she dropped in a heap on the floor. Children gathered around her, mostly giggling but helping her back to her feet. He'd won this round, but Yuffie would win the war.

"Very funny, Cloud," she said, nasal and irate. She rubbed her nose, waded past the gathered children, and stumbled downstairs.

There remained little left to do in Edge but leave. No matter. In the meantime, Yuffie would travel and recoup on the matter of her precious materia unjustly hidden away. She'd get even with Cloud. But since he was a friend, she'd have to hold back a little. Otherwise, someone was going to get hurt. And it wouldn't be her.

The girl suddenly shivered, but not quite out of eagerness.

It was a time for cool weather here in Edge. Gusts of wind scattered throughout the streets, which men and women begrudgingly stumbled in to go about their daily errands, while kids delighted in nearly getting blown away. As Yuffie stood out in front of the orphanage, the bare leg between her shorts and knee-high boots visibly prickled. She had to wish that sometimes she liked wearing pants, but no self-respecting ninja overdressed. Light clothes were necessary in her line of expertise.

"Hah… What to do now?" she asked herself, tugging on her headband. "I guess I could get a drink from Tifa before leaving. Maybe… she'd know where my materia is, too…"

-----

On the other side of town sat Tifa's bar, Seventh Heaven. According to stories, she once had a bar of the same name in Midgar, but along with the Sector 7 slums and city plate above it, the bar was crushed in an attempt to kill their little anti-Mako group, AVALANCHE. Other than lives lost, there seemed no real foul. Tifa's business flourished no matter where she went, and she even gained some friendly competition from a long-time friend and patron, meanwhile.

Though disjointed, everyone's lives after Meteorfall couldn't have been better, if a bit grungy. Cloud, Tifa, and Barret watched over Edge and the orphans of Midgar; Cid collaborated with Reeve trying to put his world restoration plans into action; Vincent ghosted himself off to who knew where, likely angsting the rest of his life away; fiery old Red courted back in Cosmo Canyon; and finally, Yuffie, herself, hunted for materia. These weren't exactly normal lives they lived now, but it was better than nothing. Funnily enough, she'd been the only one to openly admit it was a lost cause to aim for total normalcy; really, all they had to do was live. Being who they were, normal wasn't in their dictionary. Normal would have been the gaping hole in their spirit.

Yuffie expected things to wind down, but never really die in the way of excitement.

A long road still lay ahead of them.

And it'd be just right.

But today, the ninja would rightly enjoy a pit stop at Seventh Heaven. And since it was only midday, the bar wouldn't be packed. She could get in, say hi to Tifa, grab a drink, and get out in a few snaps of a finger. Sweet. No steps lost meant more materia, better materia, just waiting to be picked. Confident, Yuffie strode into the gritty, down-to-earth establishment, greeted with the odors of alcohol, smoke, and lemon-scented disinfectant. Smirking, she watched the wispy, long legged woman circling tables and rubbing them down with a towel. As diligent a bartender and maid as always.

"Tifa!" she shouted across the room, raising the heads of a couple daytime drunks.

"Hmm?" Slowly, Tifa turned, her big, curious brown eyes all too obvious over the small distance. Then a smile crept its way across her eternally soft face. "Yuffie, long time no see."

"Yup, been out and about," the girl replied.

"No doubt searching for materia," the other laughed.

"Heh, it's my passion."

"So…" The brunette bartender dropped her towel and leant against the table, folding her arms under that gratuitous bosom of hers. She cocked her head to one side in preparation to ask, "What brings you to Edge?"

"Oh you know. Just dropping by to bug Cloud."

"Let me guess. About 'your' materia?" The woman smirked.

"Damn right, my materia. Problem is he hid it. You don't hide somebody's materia. That's just not right. It's like hiding a person's kidney."

"Just like it's not right to steal their materia? Or… kidney?"

"One time thing. I said I was sorry. But this is serious. I need that materia."

Tifa hung her head for a second before pushing herself away from the table. With a slight tilt of her head, she motioned Yuffie towards the bar. "I'll fix you a drink. On the house. Non-alcoholic, of course."

"Oh, c'mon," the girl whined. "Back home, I drank sake with the best of 'em."

"Well, here in Edge, we do things a little differently."

"Great…"


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Gotta love filler. I'm picking something up next chapter, but I just wanted to see how Nanaki was doing.

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_**The Reign Game**_

_**2**_

_ Yuffie Kisaragi here, treasure hunter extraordinaire and hot chick of the century. Although, I could use a big breast or two. Damn Tifa and that rack of hers. When I talk with her, I swear I'm suddenly in orbit along with a few goggle-eyed drunks. In my journeys with the gang, I always wanted to ask how she could fight with those things. And, well, hell, how can she even bartend with those? I mean…_

_ I wonder if she was a late bloomer. If so, there might be hope for me yet. But…as a shinobi queen, a body without the extra baggage is best. I have to be one with the wind and shadows. Breasts should be nothing to me! Bad as that sounds…_

_ You know what… The Planet needs to conjure up some breast-enhancing materia. I'm looking straight at you, Gaia. Get off your ass and get a move on._

_ Heroine of Gaia, Yuffie. Bow down, peons, and worship my flat-chested ninja hotness._

_ Hey, don't cut over there-

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_

_---_

There lived a race of mighty beasts, with minds and tongues of men, and souls and mane of everlasting fire. They roamed the great red valleys scorched by stars fallen from the dawn of time. Like the Ancient people of eons past, they coexisted with the soul of the earth; they communed with Mother Nature and found peace in her kind yet powerful arms. But like the Ancient Ones, sudden disaster would strike them down, in their most holy of worlds, to spare but a precious few in its wake.

The beasts maintained their furious strength in the following darkness. Holding the soulful flames of kin to their hearts, they marched onward into time. The survivors marched alight with hope that, one day, their kind would flourish once again.

---

Cosmo Candle flickered beautifully under the dusky moonlit sky; its towering flame whipped this way and crackled that by the silent canyon winds that smelled of home far and wide. It was a vision no sore eye regretted taking in, not for a minute, an hour, a whole evening, or well into the wee hours of the morning. The vision grew evermore soothing towards its lounging attendants as the lazy but regal flame bathed them in its red-orange glow. Gathered around the old guardian, the native people and pilgrims from countless distances sat and watched. Song, laughter and worldly chatter filled the evening air, coming together as the fine patchwork quilt of Cosmo Canyon at rest.

Nanaki never knew a better home.

This land of his birth, his life, his love. He knew. He knew that fifty, one hundred, or even a thousand years from now, home would never change in his heart. Cosmo Canyon would always be Cosmo Canyon, and he would fight all his life to keep it that way. That wasn't to say that he'd never welcome some change, some growth towards the future. It was merely…

He snorted listlessly, sitting curled against the light of the bonfire. One of Elder Bugah's nephews, a wild but ingenious toddler, reclined on his belly while holding a feathered net to the vision of Cosmo Candle. This particular boy made a mission out of being with and following Nanaki any way he possibly could, right down to the point of trotting around the village on all fours in hot pursuit. That sort of reverence was odd but pleasing. All children needed heroes, and considering all his exploits up until then, perhaps, just perhaps he deserved it.

"… helped me make this, Nanaki."

"Hum?" With his keen ears suddenly tuning in, the dark red beast lifted his head curiously. "What?"

"My dreamcatcher. Uncle Bugah helped me. Good?"

"Oh, of course," he said, nodding. "We're all very proud of you."

"I have to go to dinner now, Nanaki," announced the boy. His head sank like a stone into Nanaki's gut before he jumped up, causing him to grunt like an old man when he was, in fact, a young beast. _I can't see how humans can live with such big heads, _he thought to himself. But big heads sometimes meant like minds. And so, he forgave them and the anxious toddler as he turned to wave him good night, to which Nanaki gently bared his teeth in the way of a smile.

The child chirpily darted off into the darkness.

With his spot now all to himself, Nanaki curled his body tighter to Cosmo Candle's warmth. He sighed away a cloud of dirt, sleepily peering at the great orange flame. On a night like this, there wasn't much left to do in the village. On a night like this, his cherished people looked up to the stars and hoped they bade them all good slumber and strength for the coming day. The wandering philosophers chimed amongst each other what individual star reflected what message back down to earth. Nanaki had already done the same before his tiny follower paid him a visit. He'd have his strength for the morrow; he'd have his message to carry on with that strength to others.

Days were slow for a thing without thumbs. Although Nanaki made for an excellent beast of burden. For his own expanding village and smaller ones thriving on the fringes of the serpentine canyon, he traveled and he labored. He was a helping paw, a guardian angel, a bearer of tidings good or bad, but welcome all the same. He was anything he could be for his homeland. Because what would he be if not that?

And once this year and the next timed out, he'd be something a little more, as well.

Deneh's meditation would finally be over.

So now what? What could he do in the meantime? It was simple. He would work, like he had always done. For his friends, his people, his valley.


	3. Chapter 3

_**The Reign Game**_

_**3**_

_Yuffie Kisaragi. Picture, if you will, a most beautiful queen of the mysterious West. She carries in her hands a mystical map book. Within its old, yellowed pages the wind conjures up the secrets of the earth. Power most pure._

_ One, for knowledge of treasure so far and wide…_

_ Two, to rebuild her crown of gentle jewels with a firm, golden fist…_

_ Three, a materia whore most mighty…_

_ Born of Western heaven, Materia Queen Yuffie! A kiss from my fist and loot full of boot is what you'll get!

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_-_

Things had a tendency to happen when least expected. This or that never quite went the way planned, as feet stomp and hands search and blades cross for answers. There were times when it was better, or worse. It was more often worse. But it was still fun; charging in headfirst, eyes blind and happily so, arms flailing like someone lit them ablaze as they slept. That freedom of carelessness. It brought love and life to even the simplest things. Like materia hunting. Of course, that wasn't really a simple thing in life. A person had to toil day in and out to find even one precious orb of the Ancients' knowledge— at least not those cheap imitations mass-produced by Shinra— or they had to be extremely lucky, or they had to be screaming from one corner of the earth to another, trying to save the damned rock from certain peril, a peril folks would have never expected even after looking to the past and finding nothing so remotely terrible as a sunken island or two waiting to repeat itself.

Well, there was the Calamity from the Skies. Humanity's near downfall. Gaia with the biggest broken zit not even a nerd could hope to be proud of.

But…

Materia sat ripe for the picking like apples in a low-hung tree when the world needed saving. As if the Planet urged these chosen plucky, and no so plucky, adventurers— no one else— to do the deed, to go the extra mile, shaking that tree in front of them, deliciously plump red fruit for a pack of chilly, hapless apes struggling to survive. Materia made for a rat race most foul, but one in which delight could never be helped.

Materia was a fortune in and of itself. A would-be fortune of restoration, wealth.

Out of all of today's hunters, Yuffie had seen and taken enough materia to know its true worth. She preferred to keep it on a strictly material level, however, for the sake of her homeland. But the life in it, the life around it. Why didn't more people scramble to get their grubby little hands one of those sweet spheres of power? Because with pieces of paradise came the dangers in possessing them. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know how to use materia, but neither was materia fit for the village idiot.

Back home, and all over the world, they were always there. Empty-headed bastards parading magic around without the slightest clues. Houses burned, people died. It was like watching microcosms of Shinra running around as the asses they were.

With Wutai renewed, Yuffie could put a stop to that. While she gathered her self-proclaimed birthrights, she could save the people who mindlessly wrought destruction, who suffered that destruction, smacked those who pointed, mocked and laughed at that destruction. She'd be a hero to more than just her people. She'd be a heroine of Gaia in her own right.

As she sat there, nursing her soda— which was all she could drink while under Tifa's watchful eye, damn eye— and poring over old maps and notes she'd made to herself about materia, she wondered. Where to go next? Was it time again to try reclaiming her stolen materia or to set out for something new, something better? And maybe with that something better, she could threaten Cloud's ass to give it all back. But, being the friends they were, Yuffie would oblige to leave him a few scraps for the party after all was said and done, say no hard feelings, but she had a nation to save.

_My benevolence is staggering._

Yawning and sucking on her straw, Yuffie mindlessly stamped her index finger across her topmost map. It was fairly new, green-brown-and-blue, a little frayed around the edges, doodled over with crowns, circles, treasure boxes and complex characters of her written native tongue. Skull and crossbones here. A heart there. A chubby-faced grump of a Vincent — she was proud of that one— hovering over Kalm where she'd last seen him after their big victory for all mankind. Cloud lay dead under a fairly happy comet in the top right corner.

But what next?

"Oh, somebody hit me with a boon already," she mumbled to herself. "Alright, so… Hmm, haven't been to Coral in a while…"

"I don't know if Cloud would appreciate you heading up north for a materia raid, Yuffie."

The ninja girl sneered at Tifa's warning. She loathed how Cloud had begotten all these apparently unspoken rules about hanging out in the far north. As if just to step foot there would sully the ancient soil, _and_ as if archaeologists and their own previous exploits hadn't done so already. Yet, she couldn't help but understand, even as her face soured into something of an unhappily peppered, white raisin. Everything began, ended and began again there. It was a land of some pretty painful memories and revelations. But a person couldn't dwell on those kinds of memories forever, not in the dour way Cloud did. Where was the fun in that? _Oh Cloud, you dumbass. You think Aerith's gonna want grumpy boots running around her great green earth? Don't worry, be happy._

Completely draining her can of soda, Yuffie then went on to chew resolutely on her straw, weighing her options, damning her limitations. Sometimes, adventurers were made strictly for aimless wandering. And here she was hand picking all of her potential raiding spots like a Shinra fat cat. Perhaps it was time she did a one-eighty.

At the other end of the counter, Tifa tended to a drunken pair of Midgar salvagers who virtually huddled under her breasts like babies aching for some spiked milk. But her smile never waned. Whether it was a sad smile or happy one, she managed to brawl with the best, Yuffie herself and Aerith being the top competitors so far. It was a shame that smile belied a devotion to Cloud no one could break. The ninja girl definitely wouldn't be able to get her to crack on the whereabouts of her precious materia. But the endeavor loathed turning into a lost cause. But maybe, just for now…

"Eh, I'm gonna head out, Tifa," she called down the bar. "The world awaits, but thanks for the drink. And keep me posted on Cloud about my materia, ya hear?"

"Sure thing, Yuffie. Have fun out there."

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Kalm.

After Meteorfall, the town had not been quite the same again. The quiet but industrious burg played a second haven to many of Midgar's orphans, and not only that but also played the stage to Reeve's vision of the world's first bastion. It was a small stage in a big house on the north end of town, and from it foundations for littler houses were being laid. The natives of Kalm had gone about their usual business, while Midgar orphans here partook in the former Shinra executive's dream and Midgar orphans there merely struggled to survive and integrate into the too clean, little city. But all their individual efforts would eventually lead back to this hatchling organization. Because who wouldn't be proud of fostering— in secret or outright— this future defender of the people? True, it'd be a crutch in the long run, but right now? It was absolutely perfect.

Yuffie was loath and surprised to see so much money go to waste on this pet project of Reeve's. There was no way he had a seven figure salary like the top brass he once served to have been able to fund this all on his own. But to ponder was as much a waste of brainpower as it was a waste of money backing this world defender thing.

She gave him credit, though. Just like she sought materia to restore Wutai, Reeve sought his dream to restore and safeguard the world.

"Hey, wait a minute… Reeve's one-upping me?! Well, I'll show him…"

The ninja girl made a ragged beeline through town, sideswiping the deconstruction of the Mako reactor sitting in the square with men, some rippling, some fat, a few skinny, swarming over it like ants raiding a picnic. She determinedly skipped down streets and glided through an alleyway or two to the great house that was now Reeve's abode and vigilant center of power. More men and a few husky women were either departing or arriving onto the scene of the wide, four story tenements. Yuffie hadn't seen so many busy bees in one place since Midgar and Junon. Except these guys weren't soldiers. At least, she hoped they weren't soldiers. Soldiers were icky.

"Hey!" she pitched as she approached the building's front step. "I'm looking for Reeve Tuesti. Where is the old coot?"

"Old coot? Er… He's upstairs, third floor."

"Thanks, grams."

Yuffie skipped merrily like a schoolgirl into the crowded foyer, literally flying in a pirouette over some teenagers blocking the stairs and stumbled the rest of the way to her destination. Not quite thoughtlessly she threw a rock down the stairwell, waited for a resounding "Hey!" followed by a curse, and gathered her own applause for a job well done.

The third floor looked like a squatter's paradise. Rolled up sleeping bags, satchels and canned food alike lined the walls with the occasional man, woman, or child picking through them. Living in a hallway didn't seem like much of a home but it had to be better than living in the still smoking ruins of once gloriously sinful Midgar. As Yuffie sidled through the corridor settlement, she watched its people mill and lounge about, looking as dreary as a stormy afternoon, though thankfully riddled with a few sunbeams. Kids. Love to hate them, hate to love them.

"Reeve!" she barked. "Reeve, you here?"

"Looking for Mr. Reeve?"

The feathery brown head of a boy peeped from a door nearest the ninja girl's left. His vivid blue eyes snapped crescents of the kind of curiosity only kids ten years and under would sport. Curious herself, Yuffie stepped up to the child, nodding with her hands on her hips. "Who's asking?"

"He's right in here, but he's really busy."

"What a workaholic… Well, I'll fix that."

"Wait-"

Yuffie slipped past the boy into the apartment. However, as soon as she entered, she found that calling this room an apartment couldn't have been further from the truth. Crammed from wall to wall with boxes, crates, even the highly suspicious barrel or two or few, this apartment was fit more for a storage room, with a tiny office space plucked neatly in the back. To top it off, people lounged about on a ratty looking couch within the sea of boxes or on half-rolled sleeping bags against the wall. Most were children preceded by an older sibling or dreary faced mother. Yuffie groaned inside. _All these homeless people…_

Reeve stood as lord over the Midgar orphans at his desk, annoyingly enough in the same attire he wore while employed to Shinra. It was funny to see this man in his actions a contradiction to his clothes. Then again, they were pretty nice clothes. The ninja girl had to admit she would've kept them herself, if not sold them for a nifty gil. And Reeve had the professional look going very nicely for him anyways, despite being as dirt.

"Grandpa!" she shouted.

Bewildered, the former evil corporation employee turned his head up and stared. Even the too fine creases in his less than weathered face were bewildered. "…what?"

"Now that I have your attention, how's it going, old pal?" Yuffie asked, strolling up to Reeve's desk and seating herself on the edge.

"Yuffie…" He coughed, settled the folders in his hands beneath a paperweight, and adjusted his cuffs, all in preparation for…:

"Well, hello."

"'Well, hello?' Is that all you've got to say to your favorite planet-saving teammate?"

"I'd hardly…"

"Good to see you, too. You're looking as…" The ninja girl gave her older companion an once-over, clicking her tongue as a period to her gaze. "… old as ever. Nice, but old."

"Thanks," he grumbled. "So, what brings you here?"

"Just dropping by, checking out your little getup. I must say, I'm surprised." Yuffie slid off the edge of the desk and casually sauntered in a circle, letting her eyes arc across the ceiling from stack of boxes to another. She found herself a little jealous that she didn't come up with the thought of creating a relief organization like this herself. Of course, hers would have been a perfect sham. And shamming the people who supported and needed support wouldn't look good on her resume as all-around awesome gal. Reeve's dream was legit. He had the brains, the will, the know-how. Perhaps it wasn't the best time for jealousy. But… "Yeah, yeah, I'm surprised. You look like you're actually getting off on the right foot."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"A compliment from me is always worth five more than anyone else's," Yuffie said with a dignified nod.

"You'll never change, will you…?" Reeve sighed.

"Yeah, yeah. You MIGHT get your name in the history books for this, or at least a paragraph or two…" She turned away, cupping her hand over her mouth. "But I'll be a legend the world over when I make Wutai king again…"

"I heard that, Yuffie. I'm not looking for competition of reputation; I'm just doing what I think is right."

"Sharp ears you got, grandpa. I underestimate you. But right, I'm not here to lock horns. Actually, there's something I need from you, my dearest friend in the whole wide world…"

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	4. Chapter 4

_**The Reign Game **_

_**4**_

"Ahhhaha, holy crap-"

-

Coming from the rural backwoods of Gaia, there were some things that Yuffie was bound to scarcely understand, although she played it off as a small lapse in her all-knowing memory. One of those things just so happened to be computers. Wutai ate dust in mankind's technological races, so the ninja girl had failed to develop a top-notch skill for them before taking to the main lands. Her only merit lied in the fact that she could even work the almighty cell phone and, to a lesser extent, the boob tube. But anything set in front of her with more than twenty buttons that wasn't a basic calculator or television remote and Yuffie had no choice but to raise the white flag.

Reeve's palm pilot beckoned for a little spin around the proverbial block. Being the former Shinra employee that he was— and, sadly, would forever go down in history as once part of the evil company's parcel— surely he was a gateway to some juicy databanks about secret loot the world over. No-brainer. Shinra no doubt had bank accounts, safety deposit boxes and more galore stashed in some of the most remote and unassuming locales on Gaia, waiting to be pillaged, plundered, appraised and spent. Now if only she could work this damn thing and not seem like she was snooping or flat out breaking it while trying to meet her snoopy ends.

Meanwhile, Reeve stood talking out in the hall.

Yuffie sat at his desk, conveniently shielded from view by the box towers littering his apartment office.

She could do it, right? It was certainly worth a shot. One didn't need to know rocket science to be able to operate something as simply small as a digital assistant.

"Hmm…" The ninja girl weaved her head to the right for one last look at the doorway. The mother who had been lounging on the couch with her children occupied the threshold, nodding her head occasionally to whatever was being spoken. That spindly little body wrapped in ratty blue wool would be another handy barrier from prying eyes.

One more glance…

"Cripes!"

The electronic device began ringing off the hook like a phone and Yuffie fumbled with the thing before dropping it back down on the desktop with a clatter. The shuffle of footsteps beyond the boxes served as indication that Reeve, with those amazingly keen ears for his age, heeded the cry of his device and was coming to check on it accordingly. The ninja girl twirled into her older companion's chair, thrust her hands in her lap, and spat out an awkward whistle.

"Hmm?" Reeve jutted his chin curiously at Yuffie before picking up the ringing contraption and thoughtfully jabbed his finger at this and that on its crystal screen. He made soft sounds of interest, glancing briefly at the girl who stared up with all the innocence of a pleading, hungry mouse. "I just got a message from Barret. Apparently he's planning some sort of gathering at Cosmo Canyon in a week if anyone's interested."

Yuffie sighed and reclined in the rough, tweed-backed chair, throwing her legs up on the desktop. With a huff, she asked, "Really? Cool, what kind of gathering? Another party to celebrate how awesome we are?"

"Not exactly," he replied.

"Then what'll be the fun in that?"

"He didn't go into detail, but apparently it's for AVALANCHE. The old AVALANCHE."

"Huh? Oh, well… I guess that's cool."

"That reminds me," Reeve chuckled, smoothing back his dark hair. "Sorry for stepping out before you could tell me what you…needed from me."

"Oh!" the ninja girl exclaimed. "It's like this. I need a ride."

"A ride…?"

* * *

--

"Smoke!"

-

There was a bad idea for every good idea conjured and put into action. And there was a terrible outcome for every good one that came afterwards. Sometimes, two, or even three. Consequences saw no need to ever limit themselves.

-

"By all that is shining and holy on Leviathan's _scales!_ Urrrk…!"

The skies were impossibly blue that morning, yet seasonably lazy and serene, with a streak of misty black arcing up then spiraling down towards earth. Birds circled confusedly over the site where the trail of smoke had made its impact far below. At the very end of that trail sat a small, sooty stain of a wreck, still belching a blossom of smoke and crying little orange flames that struggled to be seen inside the billowing blossom-cloud. A few yards away, a doubled over Yuffie nearly fell face first into her own vomit as she gazed upon the disaster she'd only haphazardly escaped with her life.

Her bright idea had fallen short.

The ninja girl sat fuming quietly to herself. Her face was bitter, chagrined, but mostly from the aftertaste of the up-chucked breakfast pooled at her knees.

No more flying. Forever.

Now, who could she blame for this debacle?

Reeve. For Leviathan's sake, the man was almost two whole decades her senior and had a hell of a lot more common sense than she did. Why, why couldn't he have told her that flying a plane on her own would be a bad idea? An achingly painful, poorly planned, or maybe-she-was-just-asking-for-it bad idea? And here she thought she'd gotten over her motion sickness, as well. _Some advice Cloud gave me back then…_

Now how would Yuffie make it to the main continent? Where was she, anyways, for that matter?

The ninja girl sat back in a patch of tall grass and pulled out her phone from a pouch. She thanked gods that she managed to hold onto her things before the crash, otherwise she would've been in a lot more trouble than just suffering some trifling nausea. Groaning quietly, she flicked it open and dialed a few buttons.

"And thank modern technology…" Yuffie smirked considerately.

Her PHS mobile, like everyone else's in their ever connected and privileged group— because the heroes of the world needed technology just like this to save and keep safe their much beloved Planet— came built-in with the always invaluable, the life-saving, the ingenious Planetary Positioning System, PPS for short. It was one of few technologies Gaia's people as a whole could call an accomplishment so far— sure, mankind never really made it into space yet but that didn't stop a tricked out metal ball with wings from making it instead. Yuffie pledged more thanks that she didn't need to know how to work rockets or those infinitely essential satellites to put it into action. All she needed was a fingertip and a button for that fingertip to press. And here the girl was, no longer lost in the middle of a great, faded expanse of plain nearly as far as the eye could see. She was only somewhere northeast of Junon, now. A fairly faraway piece of northeast, but northeast nonetheless. Sardonically, she considered it a success that she even made it this far on her own. It was nothing that a little willpower couldn't handle.

Now willpower was going to have to see Yuffie all the way to Junon before she could rest and relax in commemoration of her first ever solo plane crash. Her body ached all over, her stomach still tossed and turned from vertigo. It was going to be a hell of a trek to civilization but a bed was beginning to look pretty great right about now. A bed. And a bath. The perfect motivation.

And a meal…

"Actually, the meal could wait," the girl thought aloud. The doughy taste of stomach acid and digested cereal clung to the back of Yuffie's throat as she tried to swallow it down. She didn't think she could even get to her feet; the bile was enough to keep her grounded and a little out of breath. But when the tough got going… she'd rather not be sitting monster chow.

* * *

--

Another day was slowly setting upon the quiet settlements of Cosmo Canyon. It being the week's end, the common gatherers of the Candle had dwindled long before the sky melted from a dark, golden red to the most vivid purple. With a new week bordering on the horizon, little more than a few hours away, Nanaki's people considered it virtuous at this time to lay down with the sun and rise with it— as a means of taking advantage of the physical and spiritual renewal they'd gain, and need, for a fresh week of maintaining their lives in the canyon thereafter.

Of course Nanaki thought himself entitled to fewer or extra hours here and there. He was still a growing cub, after all, not to mention busy when the time called for diligence. Flexible hours in rest and action were a must. Although the young beast planned on cashing in some extra time for a snooze, company came knocking at Cosmo's door. A preemptive call left Nanaki at least a little prepared but…

"Your timeliness is uncanny."

Barret approached the low, circular dirt dais on which Cosmo Candle sat, where the other lounged in a cozy ball against the calm orange flames amongst incoming night owls. Nanaki flapped his fiery tail and yawned in greeting at the large man practically stomping his way towards the meet and greet. He hadn't seen his comrade-in-decisive-arms in about a month, which could have been said for pretty much everyone else in their ragtag group. Shortly after the end of Meteorfall, everyone returned to their respective homes to rebuild, to recover, to just move on. As for Nanaki himself, he had Deneh to look forward to. Although, a slight pang of guilt mocked him for not inquiring into his friends' goals post-Meteorfall. He'd hoped that surely they had futures glinting on the horizon, as small but sweet as his had the potential to be.

Barret would be a nice start in rectifying that niggling guilt.

"S'up Red."

"I was kind of getting ready to turn in for the night, actually. Under the stars and whatnot."

"It's only twilight, foo'. Listen up," the big man huffed as he dropped down on one knee. He slapped a meaty paw on Nanaki's scruff, causing him to furiously flop onto his stomach in surprise. The beast bristled, but eventually settled back down in order hear to what Barret had to say.

"Make it quick…"

"Shit, he wants quick. Now, Red, I gots a favor. You know AVALANCHE started here in Cosmo, right?"

"I know some sort of activist or terrorist group occupied my home some years ago. Whether or not it was AVALANCHE is something that remains to be seen. But they were wily enough to call Shinra here, so maybe…"

"Shit, AVALANCHE was never a terrorist group! Lousy…"

"Barret, Barret," Nanaki slapped his paw on the ground, hoping to wrest the big man's attention away from his little grumbling, curse-filled haze.

"Oh, my bad. For real, though. I need an escort through those shitty caves to the back of the canyon. Here yo' chance to shine, hot fuzz." Barret slapped a mighty hand once more upon the beast's poor scruff, but redeemed himself somewhat with a scratch behind the ears. For such a big, abrasive human, he had his moments. Otherwise, how would little Marlene have ever survived his care? A would-be paradox of the decade.

Nanaki lifted his head in chagrin before pulling away to stretch his body into a long train of fire lit fur.

"Well, the Gi have long since settled from the last time we were down there," he answered with a quick glance over at Barret. "But why would you want to go back through there?"

"It was the old group's last wish to be buried someplace meanin' somethin', know what I'm sayin'?" the dark man grunted, splaying his palm open and staring down into it.

"So you had them buried below my father?" Nanaki pressed.

"Got a prob'?" Barret grinned as if ready to fight.

The young beast grinned back, as if he itched to pounce on his companion.

"It's admirable," he said simply.

"'S what I thought, furball," Barret laughed.

"… okay, okay, I'll bite; let's get this over with. My curiosity has been piqued."

* * *

-

The Gi were a warlike people, a trait recalled fervently by Nanaki since his last run-in with their malevolent spirits. While his kind embodied humanity in animal form, these would-have-been conquerors of Cosmo were the exact opposite. Beasts in the shape of lanky, barbarian men— the stars forbid if Gi women appeared the very same. An appalling thought, one especially wasted on his young mind.

Nanaki thanked his friends that these caves were haunted no more by the wayward Gi. Sure, the current state of quiet down here was just as disturbing as the eerie quiet carried on by ghosts of the past, but there was still a certain solace to be found. No more war with the bitter afterlife beneath his home. Now the Caves of the Gi were just… the Caves. Still infested with the occasional monster, but they were swept easily enough under the metaphorical rug.

"Aw shit! Is there a cobweb in my hair? Feels like a cobweb in my hair."

"Barret, if there was, you'd be dead already," Nanaki said.

"Don't remind me about those fuckin' spiders," Barret barked.

The big man trailed behind the young beast, complaining about every other little thing more than either cared to handle. Of course, complaints were to be expected, especially after the last time they visited this place. Save for the Gi's absence, not much had changed. And that wasn't a very good thing, from one point of view. The atmosphere was still dark, dank and stagnant; the slick semi-crystalline walls still glowed a sickly pale color from materia jutting out of the rocky ceilings; and the bottomless pools of water, still dirtied by copper pulled from iron oxide within the earth itself. There was not to mention, the gigantic and shimmering cobwebs that laced the dark, distant corners. Stingers still made their homes here, obviously. Just as well. As long as they didn't come above ground and terrorize the canyon's people, they'd go undisturbed.

Barret didn't like these caves. Former coal miner, Barret, with the thickest skin this side of the Corel Mountains didn't like these caves. Had a star— that wasn't Meteor, of course— fallen on his head to make his hefty companion dislike them? Barring its monster residents and the fact that bloodthirsty ghosts once roamed for heads through which to spear their sticks?

"Why you goin' so slow?" Barret exclaimed. "Pick it up!"

"Do you want me to slip and fall?" Nanaki growled. "I dare say you hold no regard for my safety as your guide."

"Cobweb!"

The beast sighed.

Towards the end of the path the two traveled, there came that expectant dip in its own ground elevation before it snaked up to the surface once again. At its end was the path leading to Seto's memorial, Seto's grave, Seto's guardian throne. And according to Barret, the burial site of the original AVALANCHE, as well.

"This where your old man is standin', right?"

Nanaki nodded at Barret's question, suddenly locked in a mode of solemnity. Nowadays, he couldn't help it. From the day on that he realized his father's true colors, pangs of guilt and respect wracked his body even just thinking about it. He'd stopped at the ascending stone steps, spying the faintest glow of moonlight drip down the glistening rock.

He felt the slightest urge to howl. His jaws worked out a tiny whine in anticipation.

But Barret was waiting.

"Ah well… Let's go, shall we?"

The moon was only a sliver of a crescent, its image unhindered by the high rise wall of canyon homes. This was the perfect setting to another night beneath the stars, but far more secluded. Memorial energies of Nanaki's father suffused the air to give him a sense of… something good. Overwhelming, yet good.

That was the best he could come up with while slipping between mounds of rock to a path rarely, if never, traveled. Behind him, he could hear the big man stumbling down into the young beast's wake. It was like standing in a boulder's potential warpath. _Stars help me if Barret trips, _Nanaki fretted.

Half in and out of shadow and moonlight, there sat a stony little clearing far below Seto's vigil. It dipped slightly into a chasm, making the simply marked graves hard to see from afar. Nanaki padded slowly towards them while Barret, like a derailed and unstoppable freighter, stampeded towards the graves and stopped just short of the largest one. On a bent knee, he greeted and waved to each marker of the clustered little site.

"So this is the old AVALANCHE?"

"Sho' nuff," Barret answered. Then he pointed resolutely ahead. "These here in the middle is the originals. Big one belonged to a giant named Shears-"

"Giant? Bigger than you?"

"Shit, by like a few inches. And pounds."

"Ah."

"Right next to him is Elfé้. First true leader we eva had. Couldn't find the body back then but… There's Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie ova there, what's left of 'em. Buncha' other fools I can't remember for shit. But we was all friends. 'Cept for this one sonuvabitch. But he's rottin' in hell so good riddance. I-"

"Barret, is that materia set into these markers?" Nanaki interrupted, approaching the graves and sniffing amongst them. The big man grabbed a hold of the beast's tail and drew him backwards.

"Git!"

"Calm yourself! I just want a closer look. Hah, do you not trust me to be able to hold true to funereal propriety?"

"Just watch yo'self, then."

"Humph."


	5. Chapter 5

_**The Reign Game**_

_**5**_

_ Yuffie Kisaragi, speaking._

_ Once upon a time, there was a girl who went all alone to the top of Da Chao, Wutai's holiest mountain. She had with her a scale of Leviathan that she stole from the Pagoda of the Five Mighty Gods. On that shiny rainbow scale, she made a wish and then ate it in one bite._

_ And her body turned to water and washed all the way down the stony faces of Da Chao like tears._

_ Eventually, that water became the river that nurtures the village to this very day._

_ What did the girl wish for?_

_ Did she want to be a god herself?_

_ Did she want to help her motherland grow?_

_ Or maybe she just wanted to disappear?_

_ To this day, no one knows for sure. But…_

_ Stay tuned for more of Miss Princess Yuffie's Super Story Time Hour, after these messages!_

_ Buy my cereal!

* * *

_

_-_

Yuffie never liked nighttime on the Eastern continent very much. Something so cold sober hung in the air that it bored her out of her skull. It could have even bored her out of her shorts, just for a hint of excitement to break the monotony. Everything was so level, so sustained. So quiet, so remote. It was home as it was now, but not. These things were never easy to explain or even think about. In the end, the ninja girl just didn't like it.

That much.

No offense to the people.

The after-hours trek to Junon had been unkind. And to think, it wouldn't have been such a hassle if Cloud just had given Yuffie her materia back. For every other step of the way, she begged more and more for a bit of monster-be-gone. To be a nuisance was fun on occasion— for the beasts. Where else would she have gotten her experience if not for the nasty buggers? But just about every gods-forsaken thing that crossed her path was a flat out nuisance— even seeing Barret in a sailor suit again couldn't dare to compare. At best, she had only her favorite fuuma, the foldable one she dressed up with ribbons galore and strapped to her back like a banner; at worst, some homemade Molotov cocktails to keep hostiles at bay. One couldn't question Yuffie about why she had those of all items set aside for worst case scenarios. But, her spunky attitude perpetuated even in the face of convenient adversity, emphasis on convenient.

At the end of the day, with that ordeal over and done with, she'd never go out naked again.

Following a nice shower and some twenty-six winks— as the girl hadn't the lack of energy to sleep a whole seven to nine siesta like a normal person— she decided she'd hit up the local diner and a shop or two.

All on Junon's topside, of course.

Shower, winks and all.

As it remained huddled in the dreary shadow of the newly ex-Shinra port city, Yuffie had skimmed over the fishing village for those metropolitan delights scraping the mellow midday skies. Above, the nitty-gritty of the paved streets and towering mortar buildings pleased her. Below, the dirty beach and drab, shady houses did not. It was a nastier side of what home could look like if given the chance. And she wouldn't be surprised if a few Wutain burgs on the coast were already looking this gloomy due to overabundant, overzealous, over-stupid tourists.

Meanwhile, strolling down the narrow sidewalks, Yuffie gazed out towards the faded skyline lazily hovering atop the western sea. If there was anything she wasn't looking forward to, it was crossing that. _Screw feeling like an idiot for crashing a plane; do I wanna duke it out with vertigo? … Again?_

Now, there was a dismal thought. And dismal thoughts called for desperate measures, or at least some productive measure in general, to wage war on the woe of having to board a ship and the ensuing nausea just thinking about it. Duly enough, the girl figured it was time for a foray into the local materia shop.

Materia, her one love.

Eating could wait until she jumped continents. Hopefully— there was no accounting for her random appetite.

Ignoring the disturbing bleats of noise coming from the alleyway she'd just passed, Yuffie noted the telltale, unlit neon sign of a retailer just another building ahead.

"Thank Leviathan." She sighed aloud, picking up the pace and rounding sharply into the open door as it stood ajar off the sidewalk. The interior atmosphere was refreshingly grungy and squashed, much like Tifa's bar: the air smelled of heady, old Mako and cigarette smoke, and the lighting had to make one think that maybe they just walked into an alley, but with a door, a roof and a counter. The dimly glowing orbs settled in the back, on cushioned blue shelves like perfect prizes, were sights for sore eyes and a fussy stomach. There was the Barret-esque shopkeeper perched keenly on a stool, with newspaper in hand and a floundering cigarette between thin, slab-like lips. The few things that set him apart from Barret were tan skin, dreadlocked hair and the fact that he was reading. He also got a few brownie points for a slightly more pleasant face.

The shop seemed to sell a bit more than materia but materia was all the ninja girl ever cared to notice. Especially the broken hunks of reds and blues on display at the shop's heart, backlit with buggy, little yellow bulbs in a glass case. Was this a magic gallery or a business? The ambiguity could've gagged her.

The temptation for a little five-finger discounting suddenly slapped at the nape of her neck. It all looked so useless— to the untrained eye. Would the guy mind if his apparently unsold junk went missing? It'd be some nice food for thought on her way out, or still on her way in.

"Hey, pops, rise and shine, you've got a customer," Yuffie said cheerily.

The shopkeeper merely knocked a sandaled foot against the bottom rung of his stool and flapped his newspaper onto the next page. _Talk about uncaring_, she thought. She would've taken Barret over this guy any day.

"… Oh hey, I know what'll get your attention," the girl announced with an edgy finger snap. Nothing said attention grabber like a sack. A big one. Well, not so big; but like a book, there was more going on inside than out. With an effortless heave, she dropped the sack on the counter and jutted a thumb at the rear shelves. "I want all your materia and I want it legitimately. This time, anyways. Take it or leave it."

The shopkeeper's somewhat yellowed eyes rolled up then back down into his newspaper. The ninja girl couldn't help but struggle over this guy taking his sweet, sweet time. Either he wasn't at home upstairs or he just wanted to see her squirm through the peephole. Uncaring wasn't harsh enough to describe him. This man was a total shell of brown apathy.

"Um… in case you were wondering," Yuffie motioned, "this is a bag of gil. A lot of it, a lot… of gil. I want your materia for this bag of gil. Do… you… comprehend?"

Silence.

"Oh, c'mon! Do I have a sign on my head that says 'Ignore me, please'?"

"No, you gotta sign that says 'I better get my ass outta here right now'," he spat, his voice heavy, thick, mean, stern, every sort of unwelcome tone she could think of all rolled into one. Stricken with disbelief, the ninja girl took a step back, every bit as breathless were she drowning in the murkiest sea. What was this? Had something just happened and went over her head, out the door, and down the street for the next ship out of Junon?

"Whaaaa…?"

The dark man set his newspaper aside and rose to all six feet and some inches over Yuffie's too petite five foot two. Barret started to look really good right about now. Maybe even a bit hot? Oh, the muscles, those big, awesome, shielding muscles. Anything, she would have said and done anything to make him protect her from this unexpected nut job, because he looked like he wanted to beat her down any minute now.

"Girl, you think I don't 'member you? You stole from my store."

"But I just got here," she squeaked.

"Don't play the fool," the shopkeeper grunted, his dreadlocks rustling atop his head like a seizing tentacled bush. "The day one of them giant idiot monsters attacked, here in Ju-non, Shinras all in uproar and, meanwhile, I see you pickin' and runnin'."

"Dude… Wait, what?"

"Do you have sh-"

"Oh!" Yuffie exclaimed. "Hey… Hey! That was for a good cause, you… you dinghy! Calm down. Here's your chance to get something back. Right? Look, just… Just take the gil and gimme your materia, already. I don't have all day…"

"You steal and then you try to _buy_ me outta business?"

"Ugh… Just look in the bag."

-

"How a little gil can go a long way." Yuffie snickered as she strolled down the street, her arms filled to the brim with her new sack full of materia. The day was looking up. "And I didn't even have to steal a thing."

-

Yellow materia, green materia; there wasn't a whole lot of variety to these poor orbs that sat stifled in that mean, old shop. Even worse, they were only Shinra imitations. Yuffie knew all about the symptoms of counterfeit materia like the back of her hand. Compared to their fine, natural counterparts, the glow was too bright, the surface too flawed. The size, laughable on one end of the spectrum and freakish on the other— though, truth be told, the same could have been said for a lot of things in nature, materia included. How Shinra managed to sell these to the unsuspecting public was beyond her. Then again, they were the unsuspecting public. The ninja girl knew things that most would never know in their lifetimes.

Could she take it upon herself to right this wrong? To steel herself for the ultimate mission of obtaining all of Shinra's mockeries and…

"Haha, Yuffie, you and your crazy ideas! But… they're worth a scheme or two."

Although she'd bought out all the junk materia as well, Yuffie had no idea what to do with them. Her hope went to a break that would present itself sooner or later. A rich break, sooner over later, and richer than rich, most of all. Otherwise, it just wouldn't be worth it.

* * *

-

Nanaki was rarely disturbed. Rarely.

* * *

-

The gathering grew, at last.

At first only Barret stood accounted for; but as a rule of thumb, Tifa was almost never far behind. Marlene wanted to be there, too. So, the wispy woman had appeared on cue, her and children in tow. She was his daughter's keeper after all, without the legalities of marriage to bind them. All it took at the time was a simple word between comrades-in-arms and she was there for Barret, and for Marlene. Her orphan friends, too.

Also present was Denzel, Cloud's number one boy-aspirant. He never failed to stick by Tifa's side, if only to catch a glimpse of his star hero, of whom no one was sure would be attending Barret's get-together. Either way, for such a tragic child—though no more tragic than anyone else in association to their crew— he proved as much of a sprite as Marlene, if not more. That mostly unfazed youth would be a welcome spice once the gang was all here.

A real delight in an otherwise, which one could only assume, sobering congregation.

Amongst the philosophers and the pilgrims, the natives and the visitors, Barret, Tifa and her cherub-faced flock caroused like one big happy family. Cosmo Candle burned before them, as it had been burning all day. The air smelled thick of cloth as kindling, of mixed aromas of herbs and dyes— someone also cooked a bit of meat on the side was not perfect timing on their behalf.

The air was rank on the lack of a breeze.

Nothing to grumble about, however.

Nanaki lounged apart from the group, still lending an eye and ear when necessary. But a piece of mind wandered elsewhere. It wasn't much of anything, really. His mind just lingered on dredged up memories, memories of lessons his grandfather Bugenhagen had taught him long, long ago. The most endearing scholar still had his legs back then. When he talked, he was always on the move, much like he was without legs. And Nanaki, still a cub wet behind the ears, followed and listened and learned.

The beast wasn't a perfect cub, admittedly. He would forget; he would be lazy. Regardless, Bugenhagen's knowledge stood the tests of time so far. And it was great knowledge: the personal kind, with no minced words, no technical jargon, no omissions or half truths; his grandfather's wisdom was the kind given with loving care and sincerity that the year round pilgrims and philosophers worshipped him for.

This sort of reminiscence made Nanaki wonder.

Those graves.

This canyon.

Nanaki knew much.

But there was so much more to know than that. Not just out in the Planet's entirety, but his own backyard as well. Even those years of running and hunting with his mother and the other people of Cosmo Canyon wouldn't have made him savvy enough. Not yet.

There was still time to become perfectly one with his home and all life in it.

Nanaki then wondered about his father.

For years, Seto perched on his stony pedestal, privileged of a view rivaling that on the edge of Gaia's Cliffs.

When he was younger, when he'd been taken away and held captive, what had his father seen, besides the end to an old war and the life cycle of Cosmo returning to normalcy thereafter?

Nanaki wondered.


	6. Chapter 6

_**The Reign Game**_

_**6**_

"_I don't know what's so special about this…"_

"_Hey! This is my space! Git!"_

"_Oh, I see now. This is like… your booth of creativity, is it?"_

"_Why… yes. Ahem, I'll, I'll have you know I'm a very creative young woman. A… what do you call it? An artiste. Wutai is famous for its singular take on art the world over. Did you know?"_

"_I'm afraid I didn't."_

"_Oh."_

"_So, when can I get my own booth of creativity?"_

"… _Sold out."_

"_But couldn't you just-"_

"_Sold out!"

* * *

_

-

The early morning was dewy and cool, especially cool on the observatory's perch high above the rest of the settlement. With each lap of his tongue, Nanaki tasted herb and cloth and dye in the air from Cosmo Candle's ceremonial midnight to midnight burning for the new season, as well as many other things on the canyon winds. Beyond that, the deep, purple sky was welcoming for a time of day when most of Cosmo's denizens still had yet to rise and shine.

This morning felt like the perfect opportunity to hunt rather than enjoy a human breakfast amongst his human friends and family. Not that those weren't nice little moments in themselves. Nanaki just wanted to stay in touch with nature for as much as he was able, when the thought and need arose.

There was one thing he wanted to do before that. It was a habit the beast had grown accustomed to on a whim. He was glad he did.

It gave him a thinking spot, a good one.

A very good one.

-

Nanaki glimpsed the underside. A strange breed of moss collected and grew there, looking as fine and red as his own fur, likely due to the iron in the dust carried on the winds, and it being an uncommon genus in general. He never thought of cleaning it off; in fact, he considered it a unique addition to physical character. And it looked a lot better than dirty, stone gray.

Seto didn't seem to mind, even with that petrified snarl etched into his muzzle.

But between the two, the beaded griffin's feathers on his head were probably due for a changing. The plumage suffered whole nips and gnarls around the edges. Those canyon birds just couldn't leave anything well enough alone, that not even a sign that said 'Do not disturb. Here lay a great warrior' would have fended them off. The feathers had also been stained a rusty terra cotta from the first dust storms of the season. And the dirtied morning dew fared no better under the warning spotlight of the beast's ochre eye.

Nanaki stared below, to the precipice overlooked by Seto's hallowed perch. He spied colored pinpoints in the glint of the day's first light. The cluster of grave markers was an ethereal thing, even a suspicious thing. The materia set into the cross-shaped stakes of wood and metal were no help to their cause, either. Their cause being, of course, to stand as reminders of the original AVALANCHE.

"What do you think, Father?" he asked. "Am I just being paranoid or do those graves seem odd to you? Hmm, I have to admit… Before now, I never gave them another thought. I didn't even know they existed down there until Barret showed them to me."

Silence.

"Well, I think it pays to be cautious, at least. You never know. Worse things have happened right under our noses, right? Right. We don't need a repeat of such disasters…"

Nanaki inhaled deeply.

"Anyways… This is a fine morning, isn't it? Taste that air. That's the kind of air that calls the griffins to hunt. And that means unguarded nests… Perfect opportunity to net myself one of nature's omelets, wouldn't you say, Seto, Father?"

* * *

----

Yuffie sat poised in bed, concentration knit across her brow like a veil. Any wrong move could ruin things entirely and she would have hated to give it a second go at this time of night. First time had to be a charm.

She had to keep the brush strokes short and angular, yet thick with as little ink used as possible. The smooth surface of materia was a hard medium to work with, but after years of practicing as a hobby— just her way of making something fun out of boring, old academics back then— the ease came naturally now.

_Pro__perty of Kisaragi Yuff__ie._

The ninja girl glanced down at the yellow orb she kept clutched between her toes. She never left home without it; it was the hallmark of her first success at calligraphy on materia and it showed. There were, of course, the random curlicues and slashes she passed off as a spiffing up of style. It was much easier than admitting mistakes were made. That and a style all Yuffie's own had actually emerged from her little cloud of denial. _And it is pretty sweet._

"There we go, all done," she voiced, particularly triumphant. "Three down, ten to go. And then, there's the misfits…"

She plowed a leg through the pile of materia to her right while scoping up the miserable looking shards she'd bought in Junon. It was obvious what kind of materia some of them were, but with others, the colors were off or even mottled and striped. For defects, they were a lot more interesting than the usual fare, counting appearances only.

"I wonder what you little guys would do if you weren't all broken up or mismatched looking," Yuffie muttered.

The small, red hunk between her pinky and ring fingers flickered like a weak candle's flame. The ninja girl couldn't be sure whether that flicker was a sign of life or not. Provided, it would have been awesome if a summoned beast dwelt inside. But what size, what power?

"Come out, come out whatever you are?"

Yuffie lifted it higher to the dim light overhead. Truth be told, she risked actually summoning a live creature right in the middle of her bedroom and destroying the entire hotel in the process. But of course, she wasn't serious about calling it, so whether or not something occupied the materia, it wouldn't have picked up an honest urge. But the girl couldn't help but wonder.

"Oh, dammit, I just remembered I don't even have Leviathan," she swore. "Cloud, that big jerk. That's a national treasure! My old man would kill me if he knew Blondie had it…"

Yuffie grabbed her satchel, gathered her materia and tossed each orb, chunk and shard inside. What another grand day it'd be when she managed to fill it with enough loot to knock anyone over like a dead tree, and then some. She chuckled and hummed merrily to herself at the thought, all the while cinching the bag's drawstring closed and tying it to the bedpost.

"What a day," the girl sighed. "Much as I hate it, time for bed. I'll finish the rest in the morning…"

---

Yuffie's four hours worth of twenty winks went by quickly, and she was certainly happy for that. The moment her internal clock reached the fourth hour, she hopped out of bed and straight into the shower, singing. Aimless Wutain melodies were her specialty in the early hours.

"Ohhhh, it's a beautiful morning~ Uhhhh, great, great things to come-

"I'm taking a shower, and, and it's really, really fun-

"Nyah, nyah, it'd be more fun with materia, though~

"Ho ho ho ho hooooo yeah~ And so ends my really dumb ditty~"

--

Costa del Sol.

Every time the ninja girl passed through here, it vexed her that she was almost always on her way out. However, with everything from Meteorfall foiled to Shinra being permanently down and out for the count, she could enjoy herself as much as she'd been doing for the last few months, if not more. Materia hunting, traveling, partying— with everyone taking out generally new leases on life, she expected and welcomed stuff like this.

Today was a seasonably warm and sunny day, with gulls soaring above and the usual hustle and bustle a coastal resort town was accustomed to having.

Yuffie skipped up the sandy streets, her bag hefted and swinging over her shoulder like the bundle of joy that it was, and her boots clicking something merry on the cobbled sandstone. She gave a whistle for each hunky native that passed her by— that kind of sun-kissed skin she subtly adored, barring the occasional fair-faced beefcake. Bronze was hotter than olive, olive a lot hotter than pasty, but they all had their gems and their lumps.

As she made her way towards the southern end of town, Yuffie caught sight of a humble vendor. She wheeled sharply in its direction, ducking into the slightly cooler shade of the umbrella that sheltered both vendor and his poor man's cart.

"Hey, is that what I think it is?" she asked, pointing.

"Yah, lil lade. Wan' scoop?"

"Gods, yes! Oh man, I love shaved ice... Gimme the sweetest kind you got, and heavy on the syrup, please."

"Good inna shake."

She smirked to herself and turned to survey the streets for nothing in particular as she waited on her cold treat, anticipating the eventual fruity shock to her system. Suddenly, her heart turned to knots again, knowing that she wouldn't be able to stay in Costa del Sol for long. At least, for the moment.

"Here ya be goin'."

"Awesome," Yuffie said, spinning around.

"May I have one, too, sir?" a voice called from her left.

She twisted slowly while sucking up some of the excess syrup on top of the scoop she was given.

"Oh what…"

Beside her stood a tall man, dressed too heavily for the year-round heat of Costa del Sol. The girl wanted to break out in a sweat just looking at him; nevertheless, those were some fine threads he wore, fine enough for the taking. Yuffie's eyes crept higher, still, to the full mop of pink hair on his head, cut short around his neck but fuller on one side than the other.

She stifled a snort, sharply turning her eyes away from him.

"Go ahead, you can laugh," the man said in a gentle but miserable voice. "You will not have been the first, will not be the last…"

"Wh-what?"

"The hair."

"Oh, I wasn't… I wasn't going to laugh. Something, something tickled my nose, that's all, yeah..."

"Heyah, here ya scoop," the vendor announced, handing over the cup of shaved ice to Yuffie's oddball company. He graciously exchanged gil for a portion that matched the ninja girl's and went so far as to dwarf it.

"Thank you."

Yuffie fell quiet as she nibbled and sipped on her shaved ice. The man seemed to mimic her perfectly to a T, standing askance, feasting on his treat, all in general silence. The whole situation, if she could even call it that, unnerved her, and she was compelled to put an end to the awkwardness.

Finally, she faced the pink-haired man once more and looked straight up into his face. What a boyish face it was. _And gold eyes…? Have I seriously just encountered a fairy?  
_

"I have a question," she started.

"Be my guest," he said.

"Aren't you… Aren't you hot?"

"I feel fine."

"But those are like… What are those? Costa del Sol isn't really a place to be wearing that, y'know?"

"I know."

"So you're… you're not hot?"

"I am not hot."

"Where are you from?" the girl asked.

"Around."

"Oh, we got a regular Mr. Mystery here. Just like someone else I know…"

"My name is Yatsui," the man uttered, bowing stiffly at the waist. "A pleasure to meet you."

"Er… um, I'm Yuffie. Yuffie Kisaragi, materia hunter extraordinaire."

"Materia hunter extraordinaire? I see... Well, have a good day, Miss Kisaragi." The strange man bowed to the girl a second time then turned and strode off in what looked like a daze very fairly detached from reality. Only one explanation came to mind for this guy: Drugs. Yuffie was certain no man in their right, unaltered mind would consciously walk around with pink hair.

"Hey, now that I think about it," the girl muttered to herself, "those clothes look a little Wutain. I wonder… But yuck, still, that hair… Not even a Wutain could walk around like that and... Huh, different strokes for different folks, as always."

Yuffie shrugged then gulped down the last of her shaved ice. She slapped the cup down on the countertop of the vendor's cart, along with a few gil and thereafter marched away in search of the local buggy lot. After her painfully nauseous voyage and awkward encounter with a real-life cartoon character, she ached for a spin on some wheels.

"If my calculations are correct, I should make it to Cosmo just in time to be fashionably late _and _the greatest end-all entertainer before Barret's little gathering scatters. Oh Yuffie, is there anything you can't do? Besides fly? That's right! You can't _not_ be the life of the party! Double negative, hook, line and sinker…

"I'm so sexily clever."

* * *

--

_From Sixth: Long overdue update, land ho. I doubt it makes a…well, no yeah it does make a difference, somehow or something. But what can I say? I have no excuse…for…whatever it is that needs an excuse, hyuk hyuk._

_Oh. YES, I PUT A CAMEO IN THERE. _(Cameo of who, you ask? Meh.)_ That idea was from way back when I wanted to make a Red XIII fic…and when I had a Yuffie idea floating around, too. Now that I'll have a Nanaki and Yuffie thing going on at the same time, well… Why leave it out?_

_Sometimes, I wonder why I bother…_

_I'm writing to myself. That's all._


End file.
